This paper examines the effect of the increase in the Social Security Full Retirement Age (FRA) and the associated decrease in benefits for early claimants on retirement rates at ages 62 to 65. It uses information on age, sex, and labor force participation from the monthly Current Population...

Nepal's recent history of development is marred by a paradox. Many countries in the world have experienced rapid growth but modest poverty reduction, as income has increasingly concentrated in the hands of the wealthy. Nepal, however, has the opposite problem-modest growth but brisk poverty...

With the exception of energy, all the key commodity price indices declined significantly in 2013. Fertilizer prices led the decline, down 17.4 percent from 2012, followed by precious metals (down almost 17 percent), agriculture (-7.2 percent), and metals (-5.5 percent). Crude oil prices (World...

The key commodity price indices were broadly stable during 2014. Energy prices changed little, only 0.4 higher than 2013; agricultural prices increased 1.8 percent on weather-related concerns and metal prices declined 3.2 percent on Chinese demand weakness. Agricultural prices are projected to ease...

This paper examines the relationship between life expectancy and labor force participation at older ages. It uses information on life expectancy from the U.S. Small-Area Life Expectancy Estimates Project and information on labor force participation from the five-year American Community Survey....

This note discusses the external environment, economic outlook, and key policy challenges for the six South East European Countries (SEE6) — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), Kosovo, the former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia — as they seek to reignite...